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Forever is Never
"Forever is Never" is the nineteenth chapter of Wayside School is Falling Down. Synopsis Allison escapes the nineteenth story. Plot This chapter opens by stating Allison is still stuck on the nineteenth story. Fourteen two-minute breaks have passed since she joined when Miss Zarves says it's dictionary time. Everyone finds a dictionary in their desk. Allison asks what they are supposed to do, and Nick says they have to memorize it. Allison thinks it's impossible, but Virginia says you memorize one word at a time, until the page is done, then you go to the next page. She states she's almost finished with the B's, and she's been doing it for thirty-two years. Allison opens her dictionary and remembers Mrs. Jewls's class, sighing with relief, as she spent the previous six days wondering where she was from. She cries for a moment, remembering everyone in her class, and how important they were to her; even Jason. During the next two minute break, Allison decides to talk to Mark Miller, wondering how they got there. Mark suggests they may have died and gone to- Allison interrupts saying it isn't heaven, but Mark says that's not what he was going to say. Allison questions if Miss Zarves could really be the devil, if she's so nice, and wonders what she would do provided she didn't do her work. Mark states that teachers can always find new ways to punish their students and that they're experts at it. Miss Zarves orders everyone to get back to work. Allison tries to figure it out, then realizes that's what Miss Zarves is doing all along: Miss Zarves always assigned busy work so her students wouldn't have time to think, making them memorizing stupid things so important things wouldn't stay in their heads, and give them good grades to keep them happy. Finally, Allison has everything figured out and prepares her next move, as risky as it may be. When Miss Zarves comes over to analyze everyone's work, she notices Allison isn't working. She questions why, and Allison gets on the floor, takes off her socks and shoes, and starts sucking her toes. When Allison shouts for Miss Zarves to get off her case, Miss Zarves gets furious and asks Allison to sit down. However, rather than sitting, Allison climbs on her desk and starts singing Mac's sock song. Miss Zarves has had enough of Allison's weird tricks and decides to count down from ten, hoping Allison will obey her. However, she doesn't stop, putting her socks on her ears. She states that if Albert Einstein didn't wear socks, she shouldn't either. Miss Zarves counts down to one, and Allison feels something step on her foot and something else jam into her stomach. She falls down three steps, seeing Ron and Deedee. Ron and Deedee stop to make sure Allison is okay. They apologize for knocking her over, but Allison says it's okay. She offers to race them up to Mrs. Jewls's class, and the three rush upstairs. Rondi enters and says hi to Allison, and Allison says hi back. Allison asks what she missed when she was absent, but Rondi doesn't remember when Allison was absent. Rondi wonders why Allison isn't wearing her socks or shoes, but she decides to put her socks on her ears and claim it's the new style. Mrs. Jewls claims Allison has a bad case of the sillies, Jason enters the room carrying a goldfish in a bowl. Jason asks where to put it, and Mrs. Jewls tells him to put it on top of the coat closet. As he tries to push it over the edge, Allison watches intently, not wanting to miss it this time. Characters *Allison *Miss Zarves *Nick *Virginia *Mrs. Jewls *Jason *Mark Miller *Ray Gunn *Albert Einstein (mentioned) *Deedee *Ron *Rondi Trivia *A pun is involved in the chapter numbers for this chapter, "A Bad Case of the Sillies," and "A Wonderful Teacher." All three are chapter nineteen, as the plot involves a student getting stuck on the nineteenth story. Similarly, the reader is stuck on the nineteenth story when reading these three chapters. *While technically the twenty-first chapter of Wayside School is Falling Down, it is labelled as the nineteenth, as is true for "A Bad Case of the Sillies," the actual nineteenth chapter, and "A Bad Case of the Sillies," which is actually the twentieth. The twenty-second chapter, "Eric, Eric, and Eric," is labelled as chapter twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two simultaneously. *This is the first known instance of a student escaping the nineteenth story. Mark Miller would later escape in "The Lost Ear," and in "Dana Checks Out," Nick escapes the nineteenth story, though Nick is the same character as Louis in the show. *"Freedom," "Homework," "Leslie," "A Bad Case of the Sillies," and "Another Story About Socks" are all referenced in this chapter. Gallery Chapter 19 1989.jpg|Joel Schick illustration Forever is Never 2003.jpg|Adam McCauley illustration Foreign editions Forever is Never Illustration.jpg|Peter Allen illustration (UK) Forever is Never Kitamura.png|Satoshi Kitamura illustration (Japan) Category:Wayside School is Falling Down chapters Category:Book chapters